ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > December > 28
Thursday, December 28, 2006
What can your college do for you?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As job seekers, we tend to say to ourselves, “I need to find a new job, and I need to polish up my resume right away!” While this is true, there is so much more to the process. Having a slick resume with no clear direction isn’t going to produce the kind of results you’re looking for. What might be a great resume for one particular job, could be completely ineffective for another job.
Before you launch a job search, you need a clear understand of what you’re looking to change. Are you looking to change your industry? Are you looking to change your job function? Or do you simply want to continue to do your same job at another company? Until you’ve answered those questions for yourself, you should not begin to revise your resume.
If you find that you cannot answer these questions easily, you could possibly benefit from speaking to a career advisor. Career advisors can be found everywhere, from the Department of Labor, to Career Coaches in private practice, and at the college or university from which you graduated.
If you are a college student, you are missing out on one of the most valuable resources your college provides if you are not taking advantage of your school’s career services office. Employers are actively recruiting at your school and you may never know it, unless you take the initiative to find out.
Graduating seniors and students trying to choose a major, you should know their counselor’s name and phone number by heart! It’s your role as a job seeker to find out what resources are available to you and to actively participate in career workshops and campus information sessions.
Alumni should not dismiss their alma mater’s career services as being just for students. All the major universities in the Atlanta area, as well as most colleges and universities nationally, provide some form of career services specifically for alumni.
With the advent of the Internet, most can work with alumni who live locally or with alumni who live half-way across the world! Visit your university’s Web site for more information about what services are available for alumni and for alumni association members. You never know what resources you might uncover!
